A big question hangs over the future of the two Chinese arms of Barisan Nasional which hit rock bottom in the general election as the Chinese votes abandoned them for the opposition.

IN Penang, they call it chiak kay nooi or “eat eggs”. It is the local Hokkien slang for “ending up with nothing” and that is the dramatic state of affairs for MCA and Gerakan in Penang and elsewhere in the country.

The two Chinese-based arms of Barisan Nasional were completely wiped out in Penang. It was the second time the two parties had been wiped out this way except that the losses were even more devastating this time around. The majority of wins especially by DAP and PKR doubled and even tripled in some of the seats.

To top that, the unthinkable happened – two MCA candidates in Penang lost their deposits.

As one Barisan politician put it, the voters not only plunged in the knife but twisted it as well. MCA and Gerakan politicians have been completely demoralised. They thought they had hit Ground Zero in 2008 but the election results seems to suggest that there is no limit to rock bottom.

Penang Barisan chief Teng Chang Yeow did the right thing on Sunday night. Just hours after the crushing defeat, he called a press conference to announce that he was stepping down from all his political posts with immediate effect.

Some have objected to the use of the term “Chinese tsunami” but that was basically the case in Penang because only Umno survived to fight another day, winning 10 state seats (one down from 2008) and three parliamentary seats (one up from 2008).

A similar scenario was seen in Selangor, the Federal Territory, Kinta Valley, Negri Sembilan and even Johor. DAP also achieved clean sweeps in Selangor and the Federal Territory.

It virtually broke down the door of the Umno fortress in Johor, winning a total of 13 state seats and four parliamentary seats. On top of that, it now has bragging rights with two Malay MPs and one Malay assemblyman.

New landscape: Najib, seen here at a packed news conference, needs the Chinese support for a strong mandate while the opposition cannot form the government without Malay support. — Bernama

According to Rita Sim of the Cense think-tank, what happened was basically an urban wave with a Chinese skew to it given that the Chinese are the dominant group in urban centres. This, coupled with the young, first-time voters who voted for change, all built up to a tsunami that, however, could not reach Putrajaya.

“It is possible Barisan got only 10% of the Chinese vote in Selangor. In some places, it may have gone as low as 7%,” said Sim.

MCA won only seven out of 37 parliamentary seats it contested and only 11 out of 90 state seats.

Gerakan did no better. It won a miserable one of the 12 parliamentary and four of the 31 state seats contested.

MCA and Gerakan’s losses have been DAP’s gain. DAP increased its parliamentary seat count from 28 in 2008 to 38.

DAP also won a total of 95 state seats this time compared to 73 in 2008.

A photograph in a Chinese newspaper on Wednesday spoke louder than words could say – it showed some workers on ladders removing a signboard for an MCA service centre in Mentakab, Pahang.

Sim: Only 10% of Chinese votes in Selangor went to BN.

In Penang, Gerakan’s Goh Kheng Sneah was the first to “kam tiam” or close shop. In 2008, Goh lost the Batu Uban state seat by only 611 votes. This time, he lost by 9,857 to an elderly man with no track record.

It felt like someone had punched him in the solar plexus and it was probably more than he could take. He had continued running his service centre after the 308 tsunami. But he told party colleagues on Monday that he had “lost heart” and said he was closing shop because he has lost his customers. He said it would be more worthwhile to devote his time to his family.

Wong Mun Hoe of Gerakan, who lost in Pantai Jerejak, had presented a 24-page manifesto and a report card detailing his services to the community. His opponent from PKR, Rashid Hasnon, who campaigned with a one-page manifesto, beat him by more than 5,000 votes and is now Deputy Chief Minister I of Penang.

“I have no answers for what happened, I don’t even know what to think. What kind of message is the electorate sending? That they don’t care about service or candidate?” said Wong who is taking a two-month break after which he will decide whether to continue in politics.

One MCA candidate in Johor has been so down that he has not stepped out of his house since returning home in the early hours of Monday.

Parti Cinta Malaysia president Huan Cheng Guan who used to be in Gerakan and who contested as an Independent was less reserved about losing.

Played out

He posted on his Facebook: “This election is interesting, totally played out by the Chinese. When they need help for schools, temples, associations and others, they come to me. But when they vote, they vote for DAP. I have learnt my lesson. Now I will close down all my service centres. Will spend my time enjoying myself.”

Then, in a typical parting shot, he wrote in colloquial Malay: “Lu orang mati, lu punya pasai. Jangan cari saya lagi (If you people die, that is your business. Don’t come looking for me again).”

Dr Chua: Under pressure to take responsibility for loss.

Losing is all part of politics and elections but the extent of the losses and the fact that it was a repeat defeat was probably too much for them.

The scary part of the Chinese contestation is the unprecedented level of violence. MCA’s Ng Chok Sin, who lost in a Selangor state seat, was shocked to learn that his father’s grave was desecrated somewhere along the campaign.

His shock has turned to anger but his family is fearful at the way a political contest has degenerated into vengeance against the living and disrespect for the dead.

In a hospital up north, a campaigner for a senior MCA politician is hovering between life and death after he was shot twice in the head shortly after the polls was over.

Following the 308 tsunami, there had been endless debates about why the Chinese were unhappy, why they turned against Barisan and what could be done to win them back.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak made it a priority to study what the Chinese wanted and went out of his way to reach out to them. He knew that he needed the Chinese support in order to win a strong mandate just as the opposition has no chance of winning Putrajaya if the bulk of Malay support goes with Barisan.

He persisted even when surveys showed that the Chinese mood was hard against Barisan. His party thought he was bending over too far backwards for the Chinese. Some in Umno had told him that the Chinese were not going to yield but he did not give up, he wanted to try.

Najib is a moderate and accommodative Muslim leader and he genuinely wanted all the races to come along on his transformation policies. But it is no secret now that many in Umno now think that enough is enough. They want him to reassess the political scenario and get real.

“It is quite clear that Barisan feels let down by the Chinese. But it’s early days and feelings are still raw. We will get a clearer picture of how things will pan out once the temperature comes down,” said Cense’s Sim.

The most-asked question in the aftermath of GE13 has been whether this is the end of the road for MCA and Gerakan. Can they ever recover from this debilitating defeat or is it time for them to merge and emerge as a new entity?

Teng: Resigned from all his posts following the results on Sunday night.

All that, said Sim, will have to come later when the dust settles.

Talking to all those who lost, it is evident they are hurt, angry, confused and worried. Some of them feel lost and hopeless, as though the world is about to end,

The calls for MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek to step down immediately has gathered steam. Dr Chua has said he will not be defending his president post and his supporters say that it would be irresponsible if he were to just walk away now. But the pressure is growing every day.

However, the bigger question facing MCA is whether the party should stick to its resolution not to accept any government posts, be it in the Cabinet or at any other level of government should they perform worse than in 2008. The party’s stand was that if the Chinese want to be represented in the government, it should support MCA and the other Barisan parties.

But Najib is believed to be keen that MCA reconsiders its stand because he does not want a Cabinet without Chinese representation.

Should MCA go along with the Prime Minister or should it stand firm given the Chinese rejection?

One school of opinion is that MCA will lose even more respect if it backtracks on its decision. It will be seen as the party being unable to keep to its word and also send a wrong message to voters – that it is okay to reject MCA because they will still be in the government at the end of the day.

An overwhelming number who called in to a Chinese radio talk show a few days ago were not in favour and seemed to think that the Chinese had nothing to lose by staying out of the Cabinet.

Another school of opinion simply cannot imagine a government without Chinese input. It will not only be out of balance, but it will also cut the government off from the Chinese ground, thus hindering the recovery of Chinese support.

The question is unlikely to be resolved soon and Najib will just have to go ahead and form his Cabinet without MCA for now.

The Chinese landscape has changed and some said it has changed irrevocably. Pakatan parties have captured the imagination of a new generation of young Chinese voters in a way that Barisan has failed to.

Najib has to find a way out of his Chinese dilemma.

> Joceline Tan can be reached at joceline@thestar.com.my

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